1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for communication between a coordinator-based wireless network and a different type of network interconnected through a backbone network, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for communication between a coordinator-based wireless network and a different type of network interconnected through a wired backbone network by means of a wired/wireless connecting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of communication and network technologies, recent network environments have changed from wired network environments using wired media such as coaxial cables or optical cables to wireless network environments using radio signals over various frequency bands. Accordingly, computing devices (hereinafter, referred to as wireless network devices) have been developed, which include wireless network interface modules, have mobility, and perform specific functions by processing various information. In addition, wireless network technologies have emerged, which allow such wireless network devices to efficiently communicate with each other.
Generally, a wireless network may be classified into the following two types of networks.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, there is a type of wireless network including an access point, which is called an infrastructure mode wireless network.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, there is another type of wireless network including no access point, which is called an ad-hoc mode wireless network.
In the infrastructure mode wireless network, an access point performs a relay function of transmitting data in order to connect a wireless network to a wired network or communication between wireless network devices belonging to a wireless network. Accordingly, all data must pass through the access point.
Next, the ad-hoc mode wireless network is formed only when a network is required without an advance plan. In the ad-hoc mode wireless network, wireless network devices belonging to a single wireless network directly exchange data with each other without passing through a connecting device such as the access point.
Such a network type may be classified into two types of networks. In a first network type, a wireless network device designated randomly from among wireless network devices belonging to a single wireless network functions as a coordinator which assigns a time period (hereinafter, referred to as a channel time), for which data can be transmitted, to the other wireless network devices. Further, the other wireless network devices can transmit data only for a determined channel time. In a second network type, there is no wireless network device functioning as a coordinator, and all wireless network devices can transmit data whenever they are wanted to transmit data.
Herein, in the case of the former, that is, in the network type (hereinafter, referred to as a coordinator-based wireless network) in which a wireless network device functioning as a coordinator exists, an independent single wireless network is formed on the basis of the coordinator. Further, when a plurality of coordinator-based wireless networks exist in a predetermined area, each of the coordinator-based wireless networks has inherent identification information in order to be distinguished from other coordinator-based wireless networks.
Accordingly, wireless network devices belonging to a specific coordinator-based wireless network can exchange data with other wireless network devices in the specific coordinator-based wireless network for a channel time period determined by a coordinator. However, it may be impossible for the wireless network devices to communicate with network devices belonging to another type of network different from the coordinator-based wireless network, because the two different networks may support different protocols from each other.
For instance, when an IEEE 802.15.3 network is used as a coordinator-based wireless network, the IEEE 802.15.3 network uses a MAC address of eight bytes as the physical address of a network device. In addition, the IEEE 802.15.3 network converts the MAC address of eight bytes to a device ID of one byte in order to reduce an overhead of a frame. However, an IEEE 802.3 network uses a MAC address of six bytes as the physical address of a network device. Since the two networks use different physical address types of a network device, even though the two networks are interconnected through a backbone network by a wired/wireless connecting device, it is difficult for the two networks to directly communicate with each other.
Accordingly, it is necessary to construct a new network topology for exchanging data between a network device belonging to a coordinator-based wireless network and a network device connected to another type of network different from the coordinator-based wireless network.